


Four Letters

by OnlyInAutumn



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: F/M, Humor, Jealousy, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, kate pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:39:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7631077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyInAutumn/pseuds/OnlyInAutumn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate gets a tattoo and Seth almost can’t believe his eyes when he finally sees the ink on the side of her hip. </p>
<p>(They have a complicated relationship most of the time)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Four Letters

**Author's Note:**

> During the wait for season 3, I am writing more Seth/Kate because I'm getting impatient. 
> 
> This is part one of three.

It was one stupid bet and she had lost. _Never make a bet with a Gecko,_ Seth had smugly told her in the beginning, trying to stray her away. She should have listened. Still, she had remained determined and shook on their bet which turned quickly into nothing but solid regret in what would go down as a huge mistake. That is why she ended up meeting Sonja, having her at her side asking what kind of tattoo she wanted.

Yup, that was right. A tattoo.

 _Good, Lord_. Her parents were probably rolling in their graves.

She pushed the thought out immediately, knowing that her dad never got a proper burial and never would.

So back to the tattoo—Seth had requested she get one as her punishment (probably thinking she would chicken out and then he would get to tease her about it for the rest of eternity). He had gotten the new ink from Sonja a few days ago and so Kate was there awaiting to swallow her pride. The chickening out thing was not going to happen.

“We could do something small,” Sonja suggested, pulling her hair to one side, getting the ink all ready to pierce Kate’s skin permanently. “A heart, a bird, a song lyric even. That’s what most women get who come through those doors.”

She hadn’t even decided what she wanted yet. Perhaps the fear was inhibiting her brain from making decisions.

“Maybe a verse from the bible,” Sonja made a remark, a sly smile on her face as she turned away. It only made Kate wonder what Seth had said about her.

In annoyance, and some bravery too, Kate made her decision on the spot, as crazy as it was. “I know what I want,” she said confidently, nearly laughing to herself. “No hearts or bible verses. I want a name.”

Sonja seemed curious by the bold choice by the way her waxed eyebrows lifted, but not as nearly surprised as Kate thought she might be. “A lot of women get names too, it’s just usually on their lower back. You know, the good old tramp stamp? I’m guessing you don’t want that there, do you?”

Kate snickered and looked in the mirror, trying to figure out where to get the tattoo. It definitely couldn’t be anywhere visible so she decided to go with the area across the side of her hip, that way it would be shielded by underwear or a bathing suit and no one else would know.

“Okay, but I want it really small,” she advised, more as a warning.

She patted the chair to come sit down again. “Gotcha.”

Kate felt the need to emphasize, “Like we’re talking barely visible.”

“Well, if you want, I can go get a microscope and see how that works out,’ Sonja joked, but also half irritated, pulling her chair up closer to wipe down the area of Kate’s purely pale skin, ready to free hand the tattoo.

“Not necessary,” Kate replied.

Sonja got all situated and Kate tried not to think too hard about the choices that had led here there in that spot.

Kate Fuller with a tattoo. Who could have ever imagined that?

“So, what’s the name?”

From the way she said it, Sonja sounded suspicious, like she knew what Kate was going to say, but didn’t want to believe it.

Kate glanced up at the glass windows in the front of the store where she could see him standing there in his suit, arms crossed, waiting for her to be done with his back turned, eyes on the crowd. Kate hadn’t allowed him to come in because she didn’t want to see him gloating or trying to talk her out of it so he could gloat some more.

Now she would be the one gloating.

“The name?” she asked again, filling the needle with black ink.

“ _Seth_.”

Sonja paused, eyes flickering up to Kate with what she could only assume was a mixture of shock and jealousy. Her voice was low when she inquired, “You sure?”

It sounded genuine enough, but Kate wasn’t an idiot, and she certainty wasn’t blind. She had picked up on the not so subtle passes Sonja had made towards Seth with her flirtatious advances when they first walked in. And even though Seth had thrown a few extra glances Sonja’s way like he was missing out on something, he knew better than to get involved, which meant that Kate could ignore the bubbling feeling in her stomach of what she knew was her own jealously.

“I’m sure.”

Sonja started the first mark of the needle and Kate held back a cringe, focusing on a spot on the adjacent wall. “You two an item?” Sonja asked carefully, trying to sound indifferent about it, but also like she was trying to figure out if previous information she had received from Seth was incorrect.

“What do you think?” Kate challenged, wanting to pick her brain.

Admittedly, Seth and Kate were an odd pair when seen together. Not that they raised suspicions or anything, just that the two were very different. She often wondered what others thought about them.

“You’re so young,” Sonja examined, head tilting to the side to get a better view of Kate’s youthful face. “What are you, sixteen?”

The correction was immediate. “ _Eighteen_ , actually.”

“Mmm,” she murmured, “the good old days. Not a care in the world.”

Ha.

If she only knew.

“Yeah, something like that,” Kate murmured back. “Ahh!” Kate cringed as the needle hit a sensitive spot of skin. She couldn’t even imagine the pain of getting a tattoo like Seth’s where it was all the way up his arms and expanded onto his neck. Seemed like a hell of a lot of trouble to go to.

Her shout had alarmed Seth enough that he turned around despite him promising not to, inspecting to make sure everything was okay. Kate meet his gaze as his eyes narrowed when he saw the location of where Sonja was digging into her skin with the needle. He then turned back around to his original position and Kate let out a breath she had been holding.

“He’s protective,” Sonja noted, glancing over her shoulder. “Listen, I don’t know anything but if he kidnapped you or something, you can tell me. I’ll get you some help. And I’ll get someone to beat the shit out of him as an added bonus.”

It was nice to know that she would do that, even if it was in no way necessary.

“He didn’t kidnap me,” Kate cautiously clarified, though it was a half lie considering that he technically did kidnap her and her family a while back when they dragged them over the border. But that was all history. Still, how the two of them left the Twister floated back into the front of her mind. _You want some company?_ “I got in his car willingly.”

Sonja’s eyes shot up and her body came to a still, disturbed by the answer Kate had given, which she then realized, was making her out to look like a prostitute that Seth had picked up on the side of the road.

“Oh, no,” Kate started to backtrack, shaking her head. “It’s not like that.” She tried to give a reassuring smile. “Long story, I guess.”

“Had to be there, huh?”

“Yeah,” she softly agreed before wincing again at the needle digging into her skin one last time.

“All right. We’re all done,” Sonja concluded, pulling away and pointing to the mirror. Kate got up and looked at the spot where four little letters were surrounded by red, irritated skin from the needle. Suddenly it was all very real.

_Seth_

There is was in black ink, cursive handwriting. Small, but obvious enough. It had been an impulsive and reckless decision, but hey, she had made a lot of those recently. This one would just get nailed into the coffin and go down with the rest of the other ones, labeled as a moment of insanity.

She paid Sonja and then she was out of there, bandage on her hip covered by her jeans, which she noted to get into something more comfy since the material rubbed the skin around.

“All done.” She approached Seth.

His arms were folded over his chest when he turned her way, glancing her over. “So, you actually did it.”

“I did,” she said proudly. She pointed her finger. “And you thought I wouldn’t.”

“True,” he claimed. “But have you learned your lesson?”

“Never make a bet with a Gecko?” she mocked in his voice. “For now.”

Kate looked around at all the people who were shopping, eating, and going about their normal day activities. She wondered if any of them were looking at her thinking the same thing.

“Let’s get out of here.”

—

When they got back to the motel, it was nine o’clock and the sun was about to dip over the summer horizon. The door slammed behind Seth, causing some paint chips to fall off it and onto the old carpet. He had a habit of immediately looking outside via the window to make sure they weren’t followed.  

Kate watched as he peeked through the blinds with stealth and complained, “You’re too paranoid.”

“Can never be too cautious, Kate,” he murmured into the blinds. “Remember that.”

Wow. It was like she hadn’t heard that from him dozens of times already.

Kate turned up her nose and changed her tactics. “Careful. Who knows when the last time someone dusted those things. We don’t want you breathing in some desert dust that’s been on those blind for decades and have you end up in the hospital from contracting something into your lungs.”

Whether he took her warning to heart or not, he still backed away from the window and grabbed a beer, leaning against the wall. “You didn’t have to do that you know.”

“What? Ruin your stealth mode while playing spy at the window?”

“Not that.”

Kate turned around to see him motion to her hip. “Oh, _that._ I know,” she said.

“I really didn’t think you’d actually go through with it.”

“You already said that.”

He took a gun out of his waistband and dropped it onto the table, taking another sip of beer. “It’s not fake, is it? Because that wouldn’t count.”

“It’s not fake, I promise. And it was either get one or listen to you go on and on about how I didn’t. I chose to go through with it.”

He looked like he might even be impressed. “Kate Fuller,” he commented, “Mexico’s bad girl.”

She laughed out loud, the first time in a long time that she actually meant it. “I don’t think one tattoo makes me a bad girl. Or Mexico’s, for that matter.”

He smirked, something that was nice to see. They had both been so destroyed leaving the Twister that all happy emotions and behaviors had been sucked out like a vacuum. Maybe they were finally returning.

“You know, you do that almost every night.”

“Do what?”

Both hands motioned to him. “You stand there against the wall with a beer and stare blankly off into space. What’s the deal?”

He shut down. Shocker. “Nothing.”

“Thinking of old memories?” she guessed.

“What’s it to you?”

His sudden harshness was not unexpected. “I’m lost. So are you,” she sighed, eyeing the bed she was sure to have nightmares in that night, just like every night. “But, we’re lost together so it’s not so bad.”

He paused and looked at her like she has said something wrong. His eyes seemed darker than before, more wild. Kate turned away and changed the subject. “So, when will we have the passports?”

“I don’t know.” He sounded agitated. It was the wrong subject to bring up. “She’s dragging it out.”

“Because she likes you,” Kate stated the obvious. She hid the roll of her eyes from him.

Seth scoffed, then changed his tune. “She say something to you?”

“Maybe,” Kate hinted. “But only about us.”

“ _Us_?”

Kate sat on the bed and removed her shoes, letting them clunk onto the floor. “Yes, as in the two of us.”

Seth set the empty beer down on the table and rummaged through a bag, keeping his back turned. “What did you say?”

“Does it matter?” she challenged, keeping a careful eye on the way his shoulders tensed up.

“No.”

“What did _you_ tell her about me?”

“She asked who you were and I said that you were just some little girl.”

“Little girl?” Kate laughed even more. “That must be why she asked if you kidnapped me.”

Seth turned around, eyebrows lifted. “She asked you that?”

“Yup. Must have been under the impression you were going to sell me into some prostitution ring. Even offered to get a guy to pound you into the gravel.”

“And you said?”

She decided to get dramatic and snarky for a change. “I said yes, he and his crazy brother kidnapped me and my family, took us over the border to a bar in Mexico where we were attacked by blood drinking monsters that killed my dad and took Seth’s brother. Oh! And my brother is missing also. Then me and Seth hopped into a car and drove off into the sunset. We need passports to escape the country and all the bodies and empty registers that have piled up behind us.”

“You what?” he questioned, trying to keep his voice down so they didn’t get another call form the front desk about a noise complaint. When Seth got angry he also got loud. “You said all that?”

Kate pushed her hair out of the way. For a smart guy he could really be dumb sometimes. “No, stupid, I didn’t say that. I didn’t say anything!”

“Good. Keep it that way.”

A moment passed where there was silence, just the two them staring at each other. Her shirt had risen up at her side, exposing a small sliver of the white bandage. She pulled her shirt down and finally Seth asked, “You gonna show me what that thing is?”

His eyes would probably pop out of his head if she did.

“Why?” Kate questioned, eyes narrowing. “That wasn’t part of the deal. Is not knowing just clawing at your insides?”

He threw his suit jacket onto the chair. “No,” Seth brushed off, adding a smirk she wasn’t supposed to notice.

No.

It had been a lie, and a bad one. Should could tell the difference now. Seth shouldn’t try and hide anything from her.

Nonetheless, it was good to know he was curious. It meant she had a card to play if she ever needed it.

“Oh, sure,” she slurred, hopping onto the bed.

She got under the covers while Seth went into the bathroom to remove his shirt and tie. He didn’t do that in the beginning, it was only a recent habit. Kate had a sneaky suspicion that he was trying to avoid being in the room with her shirtless.

When he was gone, Kate took another peek at her new tattoo, shoving the jeans at her hip down slightly and peeling the bandage carefully. The redness had gone down significantly and the ink looked even darker than before, but that was most likely because their cheap motel room was dimly lit.

_Seth_

She wondered if she would ever show him.

Maybe it would remain her little secret.

Maybe it _should_.

Best not to rock the boat when the sea was already choppy with waves.

When she heard Seth moving about, she quickly covered up the ink with the bandage, struggling to get it to stick for a second, which meant that Seth walked out in time to see her pasting it back on and pulling up her jeans. He must have gotten a good look at the side of her black underwear because his eyes widened before he moved his head the other way.

Surprisingly, Kate had lost all feelings of modesty and didn’t feel any twinge of embarrassment. Seth was the only one of the two who looked to be displaced.

“It’s healing,” she told him.

“Good.” Seth rubbed his chin with a white towel, having just shaved. “At least it’s not infected.”

“I think she runs a clean enough shop,” Kate pointed out. “How long will it take to heal all the way?”

“As long as it takes.”

Very specific.

“Still feels like there’s a needle there sometimes,” she complained. Kate got up and grabbed a pair of loose pajama bottoms, changing into them while Seth had his back turned. She gave a content sigh when the jeans were no longer constraining the bandage on her hip.

She was packing away a few things in her bag, knowing they would hit the road soon, until the feeling of eyes on her made her glance up to see that Seth was staring at her intensely.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

_Sure, it was always nothing._

“Okay, then,” she mumbled, flipping the pages of a magazine, only absently glazing over the words without reading them. She moved to go onto the bed but bumped her hip on a corner table. “Ow.” She rubbed at the ink on her skin, wondering if she should put some lotion around the area to soothe it.

Seth scoffed in the corner. His dark laughter made her eye him out of her peripheral vision. “I’m sure you’re dead father would be real proud of you and the tattoo. Not so pure anymore.”

Ouch.

Kate recoiled. Now that hurt her feelings—and her heart. Seth had a habit of doing that to her, saying some remark that she would roll her eyes at but secretly cry about later when he wasn’t around.

“I’m going to shower.”

She swiftly grabbed her change of clothes and locked herself in the bathroom, turning on the water so that her sobs could finally come out muffled into a towel. It wasn’t fair that he treated her like dirt somedays, and yet it was no better that Kate stuck around another day to expect more. She could leave—she _should_ leave, but where could she even go to?

Unfortunately, Seth was her best option. Sometimes she hated him, and she meant really, really hated him for the things he said. Other times she didn’t. Sometimes she thought she might love him a little.

But that was dangerous and she would never breathe a word of that to him. He would tell her she was foolish and she’d tell him that she knew that.

So instead, Kate kept her mouth shut about all feelings.

When she stepped out of the shower, she spent a long while sitting on the edge of the tub with a towel wrapped around her body and her cheek plastered against the side wall. The bathroom was the safe place, in a separate area from Seth. She wondered if she stayed in the bathroom the whole night if he would notice, but of course he would. Seth had a microscope over her most of the time, questioning her every move.

Really, it was her who should be questioning his actions, all things considered.

When she came out, he was gone, and let out a sigh of relief. Probably off to see Sonja again to press her to hurry the hell up with the passports. Or to screw her. Whatever. Like she cared.

(she did, but pretended not to)

(again)

Where he was planning on taking her once they had the passports was anyone’s guess. As long as it was out of Mexico, Kate couldn’t care less where they traveled to. They could end up in Iceland and she would be a happy camper. Maybe Seth would even be less moody once they got out of Mexico’s borders.

One could hope.

She fell asleep with a book in her hands that night, it slowly dropping to the floor once she rolled onto her side. Seth came back and slammed the door shut, not realizing she was asleep before it was too late. Then she was awake.

With a groan, Kate opened her eyes to see him standing there staring back. “Sorry,” he said, pointing to the door. “Didn’t think you’d be sleeping.”

She glanced at the clock through blurry eyes. “It’s one in the morning.” A yawn poured out of her, begging to go back into a dream. “Why wouldn’t I be asleep?”

“Sorry,” he repeated again.

It was not a word that he was used to saying. Kate stretched before she fluffed her pillow and settled back against it. When she heard no more movement, she opened her eyes again to see that Seth had indeed not moved, and he was still staring at her.

“What?” she shifted under the covers, annoyed by his gaze. “You’re being creepy,” she complained, for added effect.

“Your eyes are all puffy,” he examined through his own sleepy eyes.

“Yeah, well...you can be hurtful when you want to,” she told him, pulling the covers up over her shoulders.

He was silent for a minute until Seth moved so that he flopped down on the bed next to her. “I’m sorry, Kate,” he breathed. “I’m sorry.” It sounded genuine. “Don’t worry about anything. I’ll take care of you.”

She forgave him.

Just.

Like.

That.

He always found a way to win her over again. Maybe that was the real reason she stuck around.


	2. Moment of Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the thing about the unexpected...it's unexpected. 
> 
> Obviously.

She remembered how lost she was when she was by herself outside of the Twister when all was said and done. She was there, alone, nowhere to go, and no one to look to for help. Kate had asked for a sign from God about what she should do, even though her faith was dwindling after the events of the previous night.

Then out walked Seth Gecko.

Admittedly, she was intrigued. Had it really been a sign? Was that what the universe was pushing her to do? Was it simply coincidence?

The look on his face said it all—answered all her questions.

He was just as sad as she was.

Just as broken.

Just as _damaged._

What a pair they were, two broken souls on an endless journey into the unknown.

And she realized then that it didn’t matter what God wanted her to do, _Kate_ wanted to go with Seth and that was that. Decision made.

She reminded herself of that every time that she had to watch himself self-destruct with a needle in his arm. He didn’t do it as often as he did in the beginning, but it was enough to make Kate miserable.

More than miserable.

Depressed.

Heartbroken.

All the other synonyms she couldn't think of at that moment in time. 

Sometimes she would stand there and look on for a few minutes and watch as Seth blanked out, his hair wild, beard unshaven, shirt rising up over his abs when he flattened against the bed. She would stuff two pillows between him like she always did in hopes that it would prevent him from suffocating.

It had happened again that night and it wasn’t long until she was roaming the streets to clear her head. In her backpack there was almost all her things, including the fake passport. She could go anywhere, start over fresh. All she had to do was get on the bus and go.

But that all pulled at the strings on her heart. She imaged Seth waking up alone and knowing she was gone for good. Maybe he would understand in some way.

But then again, imagining life without him didn’t make much sense.

Eventually she found herself at a bus stop just like the map in her hands had indicated. Kate’s foot was tapping the dirt out of nervousness with a mind swirling with options.

 When the large bus came driving up and came to a halt, Kate froze. It was her time, her opportunity. Nothing could stand in her way. And yet, when the doors opened, she didn’t move a muscle.

“Getting on?” asked the driver in English, recognizing her as a foreigner.

Kate stared at him undecided until she shook her head and backed away, the bus moving on without her. Kate sat at the bus stop on the ground for probably an hour watching some cars go by until she started to walk back the way she came.

She came to the realization that abandoning Seth was tempting, but not enough to make her fall through with it.

—

Despite not leaving, she still stayed out all night. Well, she stayed at the pool and slept on one of the cushioned lounge chairs (which were surprisingly comfy) because nothing could make her go back in the room and see Seth that way. When the sun came up blazing over her, she grabbed her belongings and turned the key to the room to find Seth sitting on the bed with his head between his hands.

When he looked up and saw her there all hell broke loose.

“Where have you been?!”

Not the entry she was expecting.

Kate was shocked he was awake and had noticed her absence in his drug filled haze. All she could come up with to say was, “Around.”

Seth looked at her like she had sprouted another head. “Around?” he asked, acting like it was the most absurd thing he ever heard. “Really, Kate, that’s all you’re going to say? You’ve been around?”

“Whoa!” she exclaimed, angry at his accusing tone. “You’re giving me a talk like I did something wrong? _Me_?” she threw her bag down onto the floor beside her bed and walked up close to him so he would be able to see her irritation. Kate was ready to battle it out. “Where have I been? Well, it doesn’t matter because to be quite honest, I didn’t think you’d miss me all that much while you kicked back and fucked yourself up the whole night. Clearly you didn’t care about me then so do me a favor and don’t care about what I do when you’re injecting yourself with poison all night long!”

He was taken aback by her forwardness. And the swearing. She never did that.

He made her do it—all the frustration and anger built up. It made her crazy.

“You were gone all night?” he asked, breathless, tone exerting concern. What, had he been under the assumption she left in the early morning?

“Yes,” she hissed. “I was.”

Seth’s own anger drained from his face. “Do you always leave?”

“I always make it back before you wake up too,” she pointed out, still sour from the previous exchange. “Except this time of course. And for the record, I make sure you’re okay, well, as good as you could be before I leave too. Another dead body of someone I care about isn’t something I want to see or come back to in the morning.”

It might have been nice to throw it in his face that she was so close to leaving him for good, but ultimately it would hurt too much to say and for him to hear.

But just because she wasn’t about to tell him of last night’s adventures, didn’t mean that she could allude to something like that happening in the future.

“Stop being so goddamn weak and quit that poison,” she growled at him, stepping closer so that she almost touching him. “Or one day I’ll wake up and you’ll be dead or you’ll wake up and I’ll be gone.”

It took everything in her to get that last part out. An ultimatum may not be the best way to get a junkie clean but it was the only thing she had left.

Except for one thing.

“I’ll even show you the tattoo if you get clean, just to give you some incentive,” she further enticed, just to sweeten the deal. “Believe me, you’ll be speechless when you get a look at it.”

Seth looked confused at first, a side effect from last night. He didn’t want to give it up, his escape form the pain. But maybe her words had gotten through to him.

“Deal?” he held out his hand.

She took it. “Deal.”  
 

—

It was harder to watch him go through withdrawal than she thought it would be. What was worse was that she caught some 48 hour stomach bug and was experiencing symptoms from that alongside of Seth. At least he was almost to the other side. Kate still had another 18 hours—enough information to make her want to lose her stomach.

Again.

For the hundredth time.

There they were, both on the bathroom floor. Seth was propped up against the side of the tub and Kate was sprawled out on a towel with her head against the tile floor. Unsanitary, yes, but she was puking nonstop so she was willing to do anything for relief. Laying down on her stomach with her cheek on the cool tile seemed to be the only comfort she could find.

“Will this ever end?” she murmured against the tile, the words not forming entirely since half her mouth was plastered on the floor.

“You’ll get through it.”

That was what she said to him before. Now she knew how he must have felt.

“I think I’ve contracted some strain of the plague. It’s come back from the 1300’s and I’ll be the first victim.”

“I highly doubt that, Kate.”  He thought about it for a minute. “However, there would be a silver lining to it if it were the plague.”

She raised an eyebrow, a signal for him to continue.

“I’m just saying, the plague killed how many millions of people?”

A rhetorical question, but she answered anyways. “Depends on where you’re talking about. Are we counting only in Europe or worldwide? And just the 1300’s?”

He gave her a look.

“What?” she felt compelled to complain. “I learned about it in history last year. Might as well let you know the facts since I had to learn the useless information anyways.”

“Won’t be so useless if you’ve got the plague.”

She did not appreciate the joke and tried to hit him with her foot.

Seth held out a hand. “Back to what I was saying,” he hinted, his way of telling her to stop interrupting. “If you’re the first to go then you don’t need to live in fear that you’ll be the next body in the coffin. In fact, you’ll be the infamous one, the one who started it all.”

“Yeah, the one who started the mass hysteria.” She shifted around, knowing he had a point with the whole not having to live in fear. “Okay, maybe there is a silver lining.”

He was quick to follow up with her. “Except you’re not dying from the plague, therefore, there is nothing to be concerned about. Okay, Kate?”

“Fine. No plague. Tell me one thing though.”

“What?”

“That you would much rather be going through withdrawal than have what I have right now.”

He rubbed the back of his neck while thinking about it. “Two days ago I’d say I’d take the sickness, but now that it’s all subsiding, you’re right, I’d take the withdrawal. At least I’m not puking.”

Two days ago.

He was close to using again, just to kick out the cold sweats, paranoia, nausea, and hallucinations he experienced. Kate tied him to the bed at his own request towards the end of the third day for his own safety. And hers. That was what he was worried about. Not himself, but Kate.

If the circumstances had been different, she might have found it charming.

But again, it was withdrawal. Nothing charming about that.

They were at the end of day five and Seth was switching back to his drug free state. Kate looked over at him to inspect further. There was a layer of sweat across his face because in some twist of fate that day, Kate was the one who ended up with the severe nausea and Seth mostly got a few chills here and there and the only other symptom left was the sweating.

Of course.

She kept getting the short end of the stick lately—well, ever since the whole kidnapping across the border chapter of her life.

As of then, she would much rather have what he had, especially as she rocketed off the floor from her laying position to having her head over the toilet bowl. Seth jumped into action by holding her hair back as she released whatever would come up. She didn’t ask him to do that, but he did it out of his own free will. Kate thought he might be trying to make it up to her for all the shit she had to go through with him and his drugs.

When she was done, she gathered enough strength to pull herself up to get some toothpaste in her mouth and scrub like there was no tomorrow. When her mouth felt like nothing but minty, she gave in and crumbled back to the floor, that time propped up next to Seth. She let her head slump onto his shoulder with Seth beginning to stroke her hair to soothe her.

He nudged her. “It might be punishment.”

She wrinkled up her nose unfavorably. “Punishment for what? I’m not the one stealing other people’s money,” she teased, nudging him back.

“No, but you’re an accomplice to the crime.” He held out his hand in front of him and panned out his hand like he was introducing a Broadway play. “Kate Fuller, the getaway driver. Seth Gecko’s partner in crime.”

“Hey!” she swatted at him with what strength she could. “I’m not being punished. If anything I should be rewarded for having to put up with you all the time.”

Seth brought her in closer, and she reciprocated by wrapping an arm around his torso and snuggling in, suddenly not feeling so sick anymore.

“There’s a special place in Heaven for you for dealing with me. I’m sure of it.”

“Hmm,” she murmured against his white tank. “We’ll see about that. We might end up sharing a bunk in Hell for all the bad things done.”

“Sharing a bunk with you sounds easy. You already sleep in the same room as me. Sometimes you’re even right next to me.” He shrugged the shoulder that Kate wasn’t resting her head on. “I’m used to it.”

A question popped into her head at that last comment. “Is it weird living with a girl? You know, considering you’ve been in prison for years?”

“May I remind you that I was married once,” he started.

She cut him off. “I doubt that was anything close to marital bliss.”

“It wasn’t.”

“Seth Gecko, domesticated. Now, that’s something I’d like to see that.”

He let his head fall backwards, eyes closed. “Maybe one day you will.”

Kate narrowed her eyes to herself. What did he mean by that?

_Don’t overanalyze, Kate,_ she reminded herself. If she tore apart everything that came out of Seth’s mouth she would have no time left in the day.

But speaking of mouths, she found herself looking at Seth’s while he wasn’t watching. That is, until he was. His eyes locked with hers and Kate froze. The fingers lightly massaging her scalp had halted, drifting down to her jawline.

She expected thousands of thoughts to race through her mind—if she should be doing this, if she should walk away, if she looked absolutely awful as she felt, if Seth really wanted her, if she really wanted him—but nothing came up.

Nothing.

She let him tilt her head back with his thumb on her chin, eyes never leaving hers. Kate would only be able to describe it as seeing someone in a whole new light. Seth’s eyes were kinder than she ever had seen before. She noticed how they looked mostly black, the sign of attraction.

“Seth—”

She couldn’t finish before lips pressed against her.

He kissed her.

_Kissed her._

She had been throwing up all night—in front of him—and he kissed her like none of it had even happened.

Soft lips touched her gently at first, hand snaking around to her waist so she was supported. Her hand reached up to cradle his jaw, beard tickling her palm.

For a moment she feared her inexperience might put him off, but he kissed harder so she did as well. Mimicking motions from his lead was easy. Seth was clearly wanting to be the dominant one and she was all for it too.

Desire spiked inside her, and then all the light kissing wasn’t enough. She needed more.

Kate grabbed at his hair and he responded by pulling her out of her sitting position and onto her knees. There was a moment of panic where she wasn’t sure what to do or where to go, but Seth placed two hands on her waist and guided her closer until she got the idea to throw one leg over the other side of him so there was one on either side and she was sitting on his lap.

The small moan originating from Seth that vibrated against her mouth gave her the confidence needed. Her hands flowed down from his hair to his neck, the sensation of her nails giving him goosebumps. She started to lean backwards, Seth placing one hand onto the floor to steady them, one still on her waist, and got her onto her back while he pushed himself on top.

He moved her head to the side gently so he could get to her neck, smooth tongue running over the skin, her legs hooking around his waist.

In a moment of clarity, she realized it was weird to be kissing him. With everything that had happened, she thought this would be the least normal thing to be doing if anyone else was in her place. Seth had kidnapped her family, brought them into a place that nearly killed them all, had monsters attack, and went on a spree of random robberies trough Mexico while hopping towns in crappy motels.

It was true.

And she didn’t care.

Screw it all.

Kate liked to think she was adopting a more let the past be the past motto for life. Dwelling on her past was sure to leave her in a strait jacket.

When Seth’s hands started to roam even more, it brought her back from her thoughts. The hands went down her neck, across the collarbone, overtop of the blue camisole she had on so his hand was free to palm her breast.

Kate’s eyes fluttered closed. She finally understood what was so appealing about sex and all the before action—that it just felt so damn good.

Kate let her nails follow the lines down through Seth’s white undershirt, settling on the space where the material meet his lower back, before slipping a hand under to press against his bare back. She felt the muscles moving with every turn, every which way he moved on top of her.

His lips were on hers most of the time unless they traveled to her neck, or daringly, a little further south where the top of her breasts were being pressed out of her camisole by the bra. She had to admit, her breath went shaky when he did that. No boy had ever before been that handsy with her—not for lack of trying, but of her unwillingness to allow it.

She was more than willing now.

Hands reached under her to lift her up slightly, an arch in her back. All she wanted was him. The feeling was most definitely mutual.

When his weight was back on top of her, he cradled her face and kissed her, tongue inside her mouth. Kate’s legs adjusted around his waist as he pushed his pelvis against her until she felt the hardness beneath his pants.

Oh.

Well, that was new.

She made a little noise out of surprise and he stopped all together, lifting off her with his elbows and forearms on the floor to he could get a good view of her face. Kate’s cheeks must have gone red while her stared.

He realized he was going too fast for her, groaning as he rolled off, breathing heavy next to her. “That was, uh…unexpected.”

She swallowed hard, feeling the wetness between her legs when she closed them. “Yeah.” Kate licked her lips and wiped her mouth, running a few fingers through her messed up hair. “I’m just glad I didn’t puke on you.”

They both broke into a fit of laughter as they laid on their backs on the bathroom floor. Kate looked over at him, pearly whites beaming as the chuckles came out. “I think we’ve lost our minds,” she whispered.

“I think we lost our minds a long time ago,” Seth countered. “We’re a messed up pair, aren’t we?”

Her laugh turned into a cough. “Yes. Very.”

Seth turned his head to the side and she could feel his breath on her neck. The back of his pointer finger stroked the side of her cheek, Kate leaning into it. “Maybe that’s not so bad.”

She remained looking into his eyes for a good few more seconds before she turned her attention to the ceiling where small spots of mold were growing.

“Maybe not.”

—

The shadow of the sun peeking through the blinds woke her the next morning, late morning, actually (she didn’t dare to look at the clock to see if it was afternoon already). She squinted her eyes and hoped for the sun to go back down again, however, it did not bend to her will. Instead, Kate rolled onto her back, leaving her hair tossed all over the pillow, and blinked in the direction of the body next to her. Seth was sleeping in her bed on his side facing her. She had never noticed how peaceful he looked while sleeping until that morning.

The bed next to them which was designated to Seth when they had arrived a week and a half ago had remained untouched for the night. Kate and the bed had that in common. Shortly after the bathroom floor make out, the upset stomach came back and she once again had her face hovering over the toilet.

_What a night to remember._

Kate was close to rolling her eyes at her own sarcasm.

She turned her attention back to Seth. Wake him up or let him sleep? That was the real question on her mind.

She decided with the other option to creepily watch him sleep. Because nothing said romantic like watching an unconscious person without their knowledge.

Seth was a light sleeper, would wake up to any little noise or too much movement on the bed so she had to be careful. Kate stayed as still as possible while she analyzed last night. Her fingers subconsciously brushed against her lips as she remembered how Seth had kissed her and how much she felt like she needed him. His slow breathing next to her was calming, perhaps mimicking the flow of their relationship

Stormy waves into serene waters.

A few minutes went by until a car door slammed shut outside and Seth’s eyes popped open. “Morning,” he grumbled.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you know that you snore when you sleep. It’s usually around the early morning hours that it starts,” she greeted him. “We need to get you some nasal strips or something.”

“Nasal strips?” he groaned, rubbing his eyes.

“They go on your nose to let the air get out better.”

He gave her a look. “I know what they do, Kate.”

“Didn’t sound like you did.”

He ignored her. “I don’t snore.”

“Yes,” she laughed, “you do. Wakes me up it gets so loud sometimes.”

He let out another groan. “Great.”

“Nasal strips,” she reminded him, tapping his arm. “Put it on a list.”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you.” Seth stretched out in bed and settled against the pillow facing the ceiling. “Feel any better today?”

She hadn’t even put any thought into how she felt almost back to normal. Twelve hours of sleep really did her some good.

“I feel fine. You?”

He put his hands out in front of him to ensure there was no more shaking. “Must mean I’m officially off the drugs. All clean. And you know what?”

“What?”

“Time to show me the tattoo.”

Officially her least favorite sentence. Kate’s face must have drained of all remaining color. Funny how she could have been all confident when getting the tattoo and knowing only she would see it, and now she was taking a blow to that confidence.

Kate sighed, twirling with the ends of her hair as a distraction. “But I’m not sure if you’ll stay clean.”

“I will. Besides, that wasn’t the deal. The deal was—”

She pulled the covers up and over her head. “Yes! I know what the deal was.”

Seth pulled the covers down, her hair swaying with static. “Come on, show me.”

The moment of truth.

“Fine,” she grumbled, then advised, “Don’t freak out.”

“Is it worthy of a freak out?” he questioned, half smile on his face.

She wavered her hands back and forth like a balance. “Could be.”

“A deal’s a deal.”

“Okay,” she relented.

_Here goes nothing._

Before she lost the nerve, Kate pulled down the spot on her hip. His eyes went wide at first and Kate didn’t notice him blink, not even once. It was the last thing he was expecting. Her heart started to pound inside her chest and panic overwhelmed her. _Oh no._ Maybe she had gone a step too far.

When his eyes flicked up to hers, she went on damage control. Kate sat up in bed, tucked her hair behind her ear, and started to talk like her life depended on it. “It’s no big deal,” she tried to play it off as.

Seth was preoccupied with something else other than her excuses. “Let me see that again.”

Before she had time to respond, Seth had dipped his thumb under the waistband of her pajama bottoms and pulled down so that the tattoo was exposed again. That along with a lot of skin she had not reveal previously.

Seth’s thumb ran along the letters. One arm extended in back of him so his head rested on his hand and he was propped up to look at her, smile appearing on his face. “You must like me a lot to get my name permanently on you.”

He was gloating.

Just what she wanted to avoid.

Kate grabbed the pillow she had slept on. “Stop smiling!” she chanted, beating him with the pillow playfully.

He snatched her up by the waist and sandwiched her between the bed and him. “No fair. You’re stronger than me,” complained Kate, who was squirming about trying to get free.

“You’re the one who picked the fight.”

Before she could banter with him anymore, he crushed his lips onto hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're thinking...where's all the Kate and Seth getting down and dirty? Don't worry, my friends, the third and final chapter is what you've been waiting for. 
> 
> Until then, thanks for reading.


	3. Four New Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seth and Kate get what they want—each other.

She had scheduled a power nap into the day and woke up to a dark, empty room. Kate gathered the blankets around her, even if they were a little scratchy, and yawned, her body feeling a bit achy. That short nap she had planned on had turned into a two hour long sleep.

So much for waking up refreshed. Kate felt more like a zombie than she did before falling against the pillow two hours before.

There want much time to dwell on that fact since the door to the motel opened in a flash and Seth scurried in like the outside was below zero degrees. He noticed her all wrapped up and looking sleepy. “Did I wake you?”

“No, woke up a minute ago. What’s that?”

“I brought you dinner. Technically it’s breakfast for dinner though.” He handed over the paper bag. “That 24 hour diner in the next town over serves breakfast all 24 hours.”

“Exciting,” she remarked, taking out multiple containers, laying them all out on the bed around her. “What is all this?”

He begun pointing to the square styrofoam boxes. “We’ve got multigrain toast with raspberry jam, some hashbrowns, one Belgium waffle, a side of mixed fruit so you don’t complain you’re eating nothing but junk…” he glanced at the last box until he remembered what it was. “Oh, and blueberry pancakes with added chocolate chips.”

Her face lit up. “My favorite.”

Seth didn’t bother trying to hide that he was proud. “I know.”

Who knew after all that time he was actually paying attention. Kate figured it was something to be impressed about.

“I got you a few other things too.”

He handed over a shopping bag that had pink tissue paper coming out the top, the sign he was at a more expensive place in town somewhere. Kate tore out the paper and pulled out the first item, which was a skin tight black dress that would fall at mid-thigh, small cut outs on the sides of the waist, but a modest top that came up around the neck like a collar. She flicked over the dangling tag—her size exactly. She wondered if he peeked at her clothes or if he just had an eye for what would fit.

And the price? Way more than half of her clothes combined back in Bethel, but she wasn’t about to complain. Kate never had anything like that dress in her closet.

“Consider it a late birthday present.” He opened a beer, cap falling to the ground to be forgotten about, and raised the bottle to her like a toast. “Welcome to the wonderful world of adulthood.”

She put her hand over her heart and feigned be dazzled. “That was a truly beautiful speech. The words really moved me emotionally.”

“Shut up and open the rest.” He wavered his hand for her to continue.

“Don’t rush me!” she pretended to open the bag really slowly just to tick him off a bit more. “I can open my gifts at any pace I want to.”

The next thing to come out was a two piece bathing suit in red, just what she needed since she accidently left her other bathing suit at the last motel.

“Thanks.” Kate admired the new things, fingers grazing over the soft material. “You’re a lot nicer to me now,” she mentioned. “Ever since you felt me up, I mean.”

“Hey,” he warned through a smile, pointing in her direction with one finger, the rest still around the bottle being raised to his mouth. “I was always nice.”

Kate narrowed her eyes. “Not the bring me dinner kind of nice.” She took a forkful of pancakes and shoved them in, thrilled her sickness was over and she could finally eat again without it coming back up. Also, it had been a lot of rice and burritos lately so anything but Mexican food was a treat. She wasn’t even done chewing when she added, “And definitely not buy me a new dress and bikini kind of nice.”

She tried to imagine him walking through a store filled with women’s clothes trying to decide what to get her. Kate took another bite of pancake to stuff down the laugh that almost bubbled out of her.

“Listen, you needed the dress for when I take you to a bar. You need a proper eighteenth birthday celebration, and not one in jeans and a plaid shirt. And the bikini is special…shows off your hip.” He walked over to the bed and picked it up off the sheets by the small strings that tied on the side, flaunting it in front of her face. It would indeed show off her hip, the very reason that specific bikini had been bought.

Oh.

That was an interesting twist.

Now she understood. He wanted her to show off his name tattooed in ink.

“Well, would you look at that.” She snatched the bikini from him, smirk on his face. He was still gloating. Clearly the comment she made earlier about no one else ever seeing the tattoo had prompted him into purchasing the one thing that would show it off to the world. “Do you want people to think I’m yours?”

He narrowed his eyes to contemplate his next move. “You were mine when you marked yourself with my name, don’t you think?”

Her eyebrow lifted. Seth had always been speedy when it came to a rebuttal.

“Yours?” She threw the covers off and pranced over to her bag to grab a water bottle, trying to think of an equally good response. “Plenty of guys out there are named Seth. For all you know I met some random guy also named Seth a few weeks back and decided it was him I wanted to pay tribute to.”

Seth nodded along, the wheels in his head spinning. “And when would you have met this other Seth? When I just happened to have my back turned?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “No, when you were all blacked out on drugs. That’s when.”

He wasn’t pleased in the slightest by that answer. The drug memories were still present and accounted for. “Kate,” he warned, that usual voice he would use when he was trying to shut her up. “I know you better than that. There’s no way on this Earth you would ever get a random name of a guy on your skin _forever_.” Seth had made sure to accentuate the forever part.

“I could always laser it off,” she teased, “and for pretty cheap since it’s Mexico.”

“Pfff,” he let out, almost barking with laughter. “Oh, yeah, tattoo removal in a van parked in an alleyway is very safe I hear. Nothing but good reviews.”

Kate shrugged a shoulder as she inched towards him, setting down the bottle. “Might be worth it.”

“Come on, Kate, just admit it.” He gave off this smoldering look as he took a sip, planting himself down in a wooden chair next to the table. “You like me.”

“That’s obvious. I kissed you, didn’t I? And let’s not forget who made the first move here. You like me too,” she argued back. “A lot.”

“I do.” He sat back and threw both hands around the back of his head, the chair tilting on the back two legs. “But I won’t be running off to get your name on my arm.”

He was never going to let it go.

“Listen,” Kate said firmly. Her foot extended onto the horizontal wooden bar across the bottom part of the chair, bringing it back to all four legs on the ground. That was right, she meant business. “It’s not like I’m going to swoon every time you breathe,” she warned. “So don’t be pretending like that’s how it’s going be from here on out.”

“I’m just messing with you, Kate. I already know all that stuff. But, it would be nice if you’d let it boost my ego a little bit.”

She rolled her eyes. “Your ego is already boosted enough as it is.”

He winked. “No arguments there.”

She almost began to scour the area to see what would be a good object to throw at him. She instead unpacked some more objects from another paper bag that was sitting on the table and found a box that caught her attention.

“What’s this?”

“What’s it look like?” he tapped the package twice. “Nasal strips.”

She giggled. “What?”

“You said I snore.”

_Holy crow._ He really did listen after all.

“I didn’t think you’d actually get them,” she whispered to herself as she looked down at the rectangle box.

A muffled groan came from Seth. “I didn’t want you to not be sleeping so we’ll see if these things actually work.”

“Since you’ll be sleeping in my bed from now on, they better work.” She popped open the box to examine them. “No snoring in my ear.”

The part about him sleeping in her bed brought him up to his feet, walking towards her. She swung back and forth on the balls of her feet until his hands found themselves on her cheeks where she reached up and touched his knuckles. He tilted her head up so all her hair fell backwards over her shoulder and dangled beside her back while he took a step in and kissed her. It wasn’t the same as before, lacking the intensity and passion. It was more of kiss that showed that he cared, quick and simple.

She was smiling when he pulled away.

“Pack all your stuff.”

“Where are we going?”

He took two booklets out of his back pocket fanned himself with them—their passports. “Anywhere you’d like to, Miss Fuller. Any requests?”

She thought about it for a while, finger tapping on her chin. “It has to be somewhere near the beach. No more pools. I want the real thing.”

“Well, you’re in luck. This whole continent is surrounded by water so that shouldn’t be too hard,” he remarked, tossing the passports on top of his packed back.

—

Packing never took long since neither of them owned much of any belongings. Ten minutes and they were out of there. Kate walked out with both her bags in her hands and saw a brand new, jet black convertible in front of their motel room. “What’s this?”

“This,” Seth announced, taking her bags and throwing them into the backseat, “is our transportation out of here.”

Kate stood there, unmoved. “Ours?”

Seth shrugged nonchalantly. “To be fair, it _was_ someone else’s an hour ago, but now it’s ours.”

“So you stole it?”

“Cycle of life, Kate.” He hustled around to her passenger side and opened the door. “Now get on in before the pimp and his hood rat I took it from realizes it’s gone and comes looking for it.”

She hid a smile, got in, and off they went.

—

“Hey there.” A woman slid in next to her at the bar a little too close for comfort. Her long blonde hair was shimmering against all the lights, perfectly lined red lipstick, and a mix of peppermint and alcohol on her breath. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”

Kate wondered what the likeliness of a girl as pale as her would have been from around there. Needless to say, the girl wasn’t taking any shots in the dark with that question.

“I’m not.”

“Didn’t think so.” She turned around so her back was precariously leaning against the edge of the bar. “Neither am I. But, hey, there’s this party a few blocks down. I hear it’s wicked. Owner paid off the cops so no one will be stopping by anytime soon. You in?”

Kate’s forehead scrunched up in confusion and also some irritation. It sounded like a complete scam where the woman would run away with Kate’s wallet or pawn her off to a pimp in return for some cash. She had to be honest, the city Seth and her had found themselves in was not the safest. But was it really common for people to be that gullible and agree to head over to parties with random strangers with the promise of a good time?

Certainly not in her book.

“No, thanks,” she let her down, inching away. “I’m here with someone.”

The blonde looked disappointed only until she spotted the next girl across the way and headed in that direction. Kate pondered if she should send some sort of signal to the other girl across the bar at a table to not give into anything the woman said, but by the look on her face as the lady spoke, she was staying put.

Kate turned around and sipped on her drink some more, tiny straw floating around in the ice as she awaited Seth’s return. It couldn’t have even been five minutes later and yet another person approached her.

Kate eyed the man next to her, amused that he would think she was going to give him any of her time. He was mid-twenties, she assumed, and probably vacationing while looking for a girl to do the ever popular hit it and quit it routine.

“Looking for a good time?”

Kate had heard that same line four other times that night and the answer was always the same. “No. Just a drink.” She held up the empty glass of what had been a Coke with ice. “And since that’s done, I’m heading out.”

“I could get you another.”

Kate got down from the bar, throwing her purse over her shoulder, and turned away without a reply. She noticed Seth approaching and was going to suggest they leave, but the guy behind her had followed and grabbed ahold of her arm, yanking her back.

“I don’t think you heard me,” he firmly stated as Kate regained her balance from the jolt.

She was about to slap him when Seth intervened. His presence was noted when Seth got eye level with the guy still with a grip on Kate. “In a city of over eight hundred thousand people, I think you can go find someone else to bother,” Seth sneered, giving him the _I’ll fuck you up if you don’t take your hand off her_ look. He wagged his hand.  “Off you go.”

And off he went, quickly, nearly stumbling over a few people.

Seth walked her back over to the bar where he waved the bartender over and ordered a drink. “Some people don’t take no for an answer, do they?” he murmured to her as his drink was poured.

“No, they don’t.”

“That guy deserved a real beat down.”

Kate slid back into her seat. She rested her elbow on the bar and her jaw on her palm. “Wanting to scare off potential mates? You must really like me,” she teased. “Either that, or you really want to get in my pants as soon as possible.”

“You’re not wearing pants,” he said to be annoying, downing the last of his drink, hint of a smirk.

She smoothed out that black dress that Seth had bought her. It fit like a glove and that was the way it was intended. “I think it’s the dress that keeps attracting people my way. I keep getting propositioned to go do drugs, go to a party somewhere, or get out of here with a man.”

“It’s not just the dress. You’re young and beautiful and was also alone for a period of time until I got here. People want to take you to parties and get you wasted and do who knows what.” Seth paused so he could sip his whiskey. “But guess what.”

“What?”

“The only man you’re going home with is me.”

Daringly, she leaned over, stabilizing herself with her hand on his thigh, and whispered in his ear, “You must be one lucky man.”

“I most certainly am.”

“Don’t forget it.”

Seth glanced from her to where her hand was resting to back up at her. “Want to go somewhere we can be alone?”

She hopped down off the bar stool as her answer. Seth grabbed her hand and maneuvered them through the crowd of people, some dancing, and some swaying in a drunken haze. One man was even talking to the wall in the corner, which no one else seemed to notice.

When they came to the men’s bathroom, symbol on the wall indicating the room, she didn’t hesitate to follow him in. Seth wedged the doorknob from the inside so that no one else could get in and interrupt.

He picked her up by the waist and pinned her against the tiled wall. She pulled him closer, needing his lips on hers, moving together expertly. Seth’s hands slid up the dress she was wearing, hot hands on the side of her thighs, and it caused her to scratch her nails on the nape of his neck.

“Kate,” he moaned.

Kate looked around at where they were. Never in her life could she ever imagine she would be in a bar bathroom with a guy grinding against her. The thought was so striking that Kate wondered how far from herself had she gotten away from. Or maybe she chose to be this way on purpose since it was the only way to keep herself going.

Kate was clearly one of those people who had a problem with actively trying to see both sides of things. Drove her up the wall most of the time.

“You got some kind of a bathroom fetish?” she panted as he felt her up. “First in the motel on the floor and now here?”

She felt the rumbles of laughter against her stomach from her poking fun at him. “It may seem like that, but no, I can assure that is not the case.”

He lifted her up a bit higher so she could lock her legs around his waist, which allowed more space for him to press his lower half against hers. The hot breath on her neck sent shock waves through her system.

Seth was sucking hard on her neck when she asked, “So what is this? A pre-heist hookup?”

The original plan of why they were at the bar/club in the first place was because Seth had gotten some intel that there was some heavy cash flow going on in the back.

He took a break from the kissing to reply. “No, this is a scenario where you distracted me too much, took me off my game, and now I can’t control myself. Can’t walk back there when off my game, now can I?”

“Distracted you,” she laughed, biting down on her lip. “I do that to you, huh?”

“All the time anymore it seems.”

Kate smiled to herself, proud. It was good to know she was on his mind a lot. He was certainly on hers.

It didn’t take long for them to both be so enthralled by each other that neither heard the knocking on the door or the booming sound of the music vibrating off the walls.

Seth’s thumb was stroking her inner thigh when he pulled away—just when it was getting good, might she add. Kate had been two seconds away from telling him to just take her right then and there.

“Can’t do this in here,” he murmured next to her ear, breath irregular. “Not here. It’s not right.”

He set her carefully back down onto the ground. The abruptness of him stopping had thrown her off. “Okay,” she breathed. Seth straightened out his suit and tucked his shirt back in. He must have noticed her standing there looking displaced, so he offered a hand onto her shoulder. “Listen, I’m going to go take care of his. I’ll be in and out. Simple as that.”

“You’ve said that before and things go south,” she remarked, remembering previous jobs that did not go as planned.

He made no comment on that. “Be ready to get out of here.”

“I will.”

Seth opened the door and the two were about to go in opposite directions when he pulled her in once more, saying, “And you better believe we will pick up where we left off later.”

“We better.”

—

Time didn’t exist inside the bar. There were no clocks hanging anywhere on the walls, and for good reason. Spending hours and rolls of money there would be easy.

Kate had settled in on a red couch in the corner of the room where she could see all the people and things transpiring. She thought about how rarely she was alone. Ever since the Twister, Seth had been her only company for ninety five percent of them time. Kate had grown so used to him being around that when he wasn’t, something felt off. Plus, there was the added stress of waiting for him.

She was nervous.

Okay, that was a wild understatement.

The uncomfortable heels she was wearing were tapping against the wall as she waited for any sign of Seth. His reappearance would be quick, and she needed to be ready. But the longer he took the more her brain fired off scenarios of things going wrong. It was a lot to handle and give off the façade of calm at the same time. Kate didn’t want to be on her own if anything happened. She was too far gone from her previous self to return to any sense of true normalcy, especially if it were in Bethel.

There was no going back there. Never, ever.

Her old life was dead.

So was the old Kate.

A hand snatched her up to her feet mid thought. Her immediate reaction was to elbow them in the ribs like Seth had taught her, but the blow had been dodged because it was Seth himself who had grabbed her and had anticipated her fighting. “It’s me.”

“Sorry.”

They were walking fast towards the exit, faster than Kate’s heels wanted her to go. The blisters that were forming on her ankles were going to need some serious remedy as soon as possible.

“Did you get it?”

The first shot from behind them shattered a glass sitting on a table, the alcohol in it flying up into the air. Kate barely had enough time to react before another shot rang out in the air, followed by more, all hitting the walls around the two of them.

The bar erupted into chaos and Kate’s screams were drowned out by the rest.

People scattered in all directions, blurs of color, as Seth locked his hands around Kate’s, ducking down into the crowd as they found the bright exit sign, escaping before they ended up being trampled in the madness.

—

Kate understood the thrill of it all as they drove off at high speed down the highway, Seth weaving in and out of the traffic lanes to get as far away as possible in the quickest amount of time. She was smiling so much it was beginning to hurt her jaw, cash in her lap in bundles since not all would fit in her bag. It was all stacks of hundred dollar bills, enough money to get them by for a long time, years even.

It was great, all of it. Seth next to her still rambling on about his every move while pulling it all off, the wind blowing in Kate’s hair like she was in a movie scene—them dashing off together in the early morning hours.

It felt amazing—flying high, the stars not even the limit.

Kate was happy.

Until she wasn’t.

She was staring at the mirror to the side, her reflection allowing the guilt to pour in like a faucet had been turned on, her smile fading as the emptiness filled her. Suddenly the wind in her face made Kate feel like she was suffocating and the cash in her lap was feeling like weights.

“They were bad people back there, Kate,” Seth tried to remind her as he focused his attention partly on her and partly on the road ahead. “They wouldn’t be doing anything good with the money anyways.”

Bad people.

Not like Kate and him were any better.

—

Because the roads dwindled down going towards Colombia, they drove hours back the other way, nearing Costa Rica. There was a small tourist town with a hotel along the beach that Seth checked them into, a far nicer room than any of the other ones they had stayed at. There was a king size bed with blinding white sheets, framed pictures of nature on the walls, granite countertops in the bathroom, a mini fridge, and a flat screen tv.

It might have seemed a generous amount more glamourous if Kate hadn’t been having an identity crisis ever since they first got in the car.

Who she was wasn’t who she wanted to be.

Kate leaned against the wall and slid to the ground, legs pulled into her chest so she could hug around them. The pit in her stomach was not going to go away easily. “We can’t keep doing this.”

Her hair draped around the sides of her face. Kate knew what she was telling him. It was her asking for him to give up a part of himself—the criminal part—that had guided his actions for so many years.

In the time she had been thinking about it, the alienation had occurred. Kate felt so distant from Seth all of a sudden, like she was systematically clipping away a part of their connection, preparing for the worst.

“I’m not Richie,” her voice cracked as the explanation came, weight falling off her shoulders as she spoke. “I can’t be that kind of partner to you. I can’t keep living like this. It’s not right and we both know that. One day something bad will happen and a job will go wrong or someone will find us.” She drew in a heavy breath. “I don’t want to be another victim of a Gecko brother, only this time by association.”

It was a relief to get it off her chest. It would have been foolish to think that it was some kind of new revelation, when actually Kate had known it all along but had put it out of mind for self-preservation.

She was afraid he wasn’t going to understand, that he would talk her into thinking things weren’t as bad as they seemed and they could both continue down the broken road. But when she saw him, he didn’t look disappointed. Perhaps he also had grown tired of the lifestyle.

“Okay, we’ll figure something out.” He held out a hand. “Together.”

She took his hand and he pulled her up without much effort. “You’re not mad?”

He shook his head, fingers gliding through her hair until it was tucked behind her ear. A hand on her lower back pulled her in closer, Kate’s hands flattening against his chest, fingers enclosing around the material of the white dress shirt.

“No, I’m not mad,” he confirmed, looking rather amused she would think that. “Why would I be mad?”

She started to choke up, which made her speech flawed. “Because I’m just some silly girl who can’t handle it,” Kate blurted out.

“You’re not a silly girl to me, Kate, and you should know that by now. You’re much more.”

A sniffle was all Kate would allow as the hopelessness feeling passed and room for optimism entered. “I’m tired of moving around,” she admitted to. “Motel after motel. It’s getting old fast.”

Seth took out a roll of hundreds and held it up. “Tell you what, no more moving. Okay? I’ll buy you a house right on the beach. You can pick anyone you want.”

“Really?”

Seth’s facial expression showed that he was blowing it off like it was nothing. “Sure, why not?”

Him being so okay with everything was throwing Kate off. She kept looking for signs of distress but Seth was completely content. Her mouth moved from side to side in a swishing motion. “I was expecting a different response,” she cautiously added. She balanced back and forth on her toes to her heels, mind swirling with a sentence previously said. “So about this house,” she hinted, “are you being serious or just throwing wild statements out there to see how I’ll react.”

“We got enough cash for it, might as well settle down.”

His eyes were so genuine and Kate melted away. “You’re serious,” she smiled.

Seth pulled her in so she was pressed against him, his fingers pressed firmly against the curve of her spine. Kate resisted the urge to set her head against his chest in favor of gazing up at him instead.

“It’s only right. I can’t take back what happened with your family and the life you can’t go back to in Bethel, but maybe I can even the field by getting you a place of your own where you can start over.”

“A fresh start.” She had been wanting that for months. “But, wait, you’ll stay with me, right?”

She hoped she wasn’t sounding needy.

Seth sighed deeply, contemplating how to answer. “Don’t you think you’ll be better off without me? Now think about this, really think about it. After everything—”

“No,” she interrupted. Kate looped her arms around his muscular waist and linked her fingers in the back. “I won’t be. Losing you would hurt too much. I know how I feel.”

Eventually, a grin broke over his face. He glanced to the ceiling before she shifted back to her. “Okay, okay.”

Kate felt the need to reaffirm. “I want you.”

He took in a sharp breath. “Those are some dangerous words, Miss Fuller.”

“I’ve mastered danger by now.”

She grabbed his face and kissed him. Seth got the message and kissed her back hard. He bent down and placed his hands under her thighs and pulled her up into his arms without much effort. A few steps and she was being pinned between the wall and Seth. Her head had banged against the wall in the process, but Kate hardly noticed. She was too captivated about where Seth was touching and kissing to be otherwise occupied by any pain her skull might be having.

“I want you, too,” he managed to say before his mouth was occupied.

Her dress was lifted over her head and discarded onto the floor in seconds, leaving her in nothing but her bra and underwear. Seth took the time to hoist her up further before moving to the bed, pristine sheets feeling soft on her back once she was placed down.

“Are you sure we should—?”

She gave him no time to finish off the sentence, pulling him onto her so every inch was pressing down. Kate propped up on her elbows so she could reach behind and unhook her bra, Seth glancing to the right where she threw it to before he dipped his head down and pressed his mouth to the newly exposed skin.

Seth had lifted her back up enough to form an arch, thumbs kept on the front of her ribs while the fingers were in place on her back to hold her up. His tongue ran over her nipple, causing her to jerk slightly from the sensation. Kate could even feel him smirk when her body was beginning to lose it.

“Take this off.” She tugged at his shirt, feeling it wasn’t fair she was topless and he was still in all his clothes. “Please.”

“No problem.” The buttons popped open of the white shirt and was set aside. “Better?”

For the first time, she ran her hands over his refined abs. “Much.”

Seth laid down on is back next to her. “Come here.” Leaning to the side, he grabbed her at the waist and pulled her on top so she straddled him, the both of them shifting. Kate made a face of discomfort as his belt dug into her thigh, which prompted her to tell herself to not overthink anything and take the thing off.

As the loop came undone and the sound of the metal clicking onto the wooden floor, Seth handled her pelvis and moved her slightly upwards until she felt how hard he was. Kate swallowed nervously, her mouth having dried up. It was all so new that her body and mind were firing off fireworks every which way.

Seth’s lips were parted as he breathed out his mouth. Kate flipped her hair over to one side and she slowly started to grind on him, wondering if she was doing it right.

Seth’s hands roamed over her breasts to the top of her underwear, tracing the line. Kate pressed against harder, forcing Seth to groan with pleasure, closing her eyes momentarily.

Kate’s eyes went wide with satisfaction. Looked like she wasn’t so bad at it after all.

Kate leaned over to kiss him and Seth took the chance to roll back onto her so he was on top. Seth’s hand dipped lower to run over the cotton of her underwear, both of their breath pace picking up. The material was slid half way down on the side before Seth stopped.

“What are you…?”

His thumb started to stroke over the four little letters in her skin. “Have I mentioned lately how much I like this?”

“You can tell me later.”

Kate yanked the other half of the underwear down and Seth slid it all the way off. It was entirely awkward laying there with no clothes. Her nerves were all over the place with anxiety. When his zipper was pulled down, pants and boxers removed, that was when things got real very quick. Seth plastered his body back onto hers and she reevaluated all the skin contact.

“Relax,” he whispered.

Kate let her muscles loosen up.

“That’s better.”

Seth settled between her legs as she spread them farther apart to accommodate him. Kate could see her chest rising and falling with a fast pace as she felt his and move south to guide himself into her. Kate had moved her head to the side so he would stop kissing her mouth and go for the neck instead.

Kate bit down on her lip until he was all the way in, stretching her out. She had heard before that it was going to hurt, but she had never imagined how uncomfortable sex was going to be. It wasn’t so much pain in reality, just discomfort.

Seth pulled his hand back up and brush some hair out of her face, turning it back to him. “You okay?”

Her head nodded up and down for him to continue. The first push out and then in again was anything but pleasurable. Kate had grabbed the nape of Seth’s neck so he buried it into the spot between her shoulder and her own neck. He had gripped her hip, thumb pushing down on the pelvic bone every time he thrusted inside, as Kate make small movements to match his.

“Ah, Kate,” he panted next to her ear, “you feel so good.”

It was starting to feel pretty good to her too. Kate held onto him tighter as he thrusted faster, one hand pressed on his lower back so she felt all the little muscle movements. He began to lose all control when Kate started making little noises of her own from the tingly sensations. Seth rubbed her the right way until they were both out of breath and Seth had collapsed on top of her after saying her name one last time.

—

They both had been lying in bed for a few hours, tangled in the sheets and on the fluffy pillows. The sun was rising when Kate picked up his hand and drew on the lines of his palm. “We need something normal.”

“I’ve never had any kind of normal, Kate,” he noted. “I don’t know how to do it.”

“I’ll show you then, as long as you’re up for it.”

“Oh, I’m up for it.” He said it so confidently. “Are you sure you are?”

The pillow next to her found its way to flatten against his face. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t up for it.”

Seth pulled the pillow off and gave her the look of admiration. “You’re too good for me, Kate.”

“Stop that.”

“It’s true.”

“Maybe that’s what you think but that’s not my view of things.” She brought his hand up to her mouth and she kissed his knuckles. “I hope one day you’ll see things my way.”

Seth altered the conversation. “So, where do we go from here?”

“I hear Brazil is pretty,” she suggested, hoping for a mutual response. “But I have always wanted to go to Italy.”

He groaned. “Italy, huh?”

“Anywhere with a view of the ocean is good for me. That part is non-negotiable.”

“How’s Antarctica then? Front row seat to some icy ocean waves and a glacier.”

Kate huffed in response. “Let me rephrase. Live anywhere warm. I don’t want to live in a place where penguins and polar bears are the neighbors.”

“And absolutely no _Mexico_ ,” he added.

Kate nodded, never wanting to go back there either. “Agreed.”

A fresh start.

It was what they both needed.

And it was what they were going to get.

—

Three days later Seth came back with Kate’s name tattooed to the side of a flame on his bicep, claiming it was only right for them to be even.

Four new letters inked on skin.

So there they were, one crazy pair, names marked on each other as a symbol of their growing love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! All finished. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing the story. Stay tuned for more Seth and Kate adventures in new stories.


End file.
